EU country to ban Russians from buying real estate: bill already in parliament

The Finnish government is pushing forward with its plan to ban citizens of the Russian Federation from buying real estate in the country. The Ministry of Defense has already submitted the relevant bill to the local parliament.

This is explained by security concerns, given that Finland and Russia have almost 1,300 km of common border. Particular attention is paid to potential buyers who have Russian citizenship or dual citizenship of the aggressor country.

"The purpose of this bill is to limit the ability of Russians to buy real estate in Finland," said Defense Minister Antti Hakkänen. He added that given the security threats in Europe coming from the Russian Federation, real estate companies could be "used to exert hostile influence."

Such plans by the Finnish government became known in September. It was then that concerns grew among local politicians and the public about the security of real estate deals bought by Russians or their affiliates near critical infrastructure. In particular, Russian oligarch Igor Kesayev, who was suspected of ties to the FSB and arms production, purchased an island in the Saimaa Lake area, located 100 km from the Finnish-Russian border.

The law is planned to be extended not only to Russian citizens, but also to those whose country is waging an aggressive war and may pose a threat to national security. It is a strengthened version of an already approved legislative initiative that allows the state to intervene in real estate transactions before they take place for national security reasons, which has allowed a number of deals to be blocked. In addition, Finland is considering the possibility of confiscating real estate for security reasons.

Finland became the first European Union country to introduce such restrictions on Russians. But this is an example for others - Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland are considering banning citizens of Russia and Belarus from buying land.








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